What is the implication of the diminishing returns to capital for economic growth of different countries over time? (hint: think about what is predicted to happen to the gap between rich and poor countries).

Use examples of countries in Table 7.1 where this implication seems to be confirmed in the data in the period 1950-2014, as well as those that contradict this implication.

TABLE 7.1 The variety of growth experiences across countries Real GDP per Real GDP per Country Period capita at beginning capita at end Average of period* of period* growth rate (%) Botswana 1960-2014 408 15 196 6.93 South Korea 1953-2014 1044 34 955 5.92 China 1952-2014 900 12 512 4.34 Japan 1950-2014 2523 35 566 4.22 Indonesia 1960-2014 1298 9798 3.81 Germany 1950-2014 4640 46 507 3.67 Brazil 1950-2014 1593 14 811 3.55 India 1950-2014 844 5452 2.96 United Kingdom 1950-2014 9454 38 757 2.23 Pakistan 1950-2014 1267 4808 2.11 Australia 1950-2014 12 060 44 241 2.05 United States 1950-2014 14 619 51 959 2.00 New Zealand 1950-2014 10 934 34 066 1.79 Venezuela 1950-2014 5516 15 445 1.62 Bangladesh 1959-2014 1361 2917 1.40 Russia 1990-2014 19 841 24 056 0.81 Niger 1960-2014 1392 878 -0.85 *Real GDP is expressed in 2011 (internationally comparable) dollars. Source: The Penn World Table (Mark 9.0), Feenstra, R.C., R. Inklaar & M.P. Timmer (2015), 'The Next Generation of the Penn World Table', American Economic Review, 105(10), 3150-3182, available for download at http://www.ggdc.net/pwt